Dragon Con 2011 Debriefing/Postmortem Part 2

So what's the treasure at the end of all the trudging?
It's Four-fold and more, first of all there's the spectacle, over and over again, always surprising, always different. Secondly, there's the panels, the author tracks, the comics/ graphic novel tracks, Brit track, Dark Fantasy Track, Alternate History/Steampunk track, and so much more I didn't investigate personally, then the vendor and art rooms, and last but certainly near the top of the list - those serendipitous meetings and moments.
For me I had two surprises: - The Brit track was one of the highs of my con, seeing all the DR. Who's and Tardis' (how do I make this plural?) walking around or standing in full life size 3-D reality in the Brit Track room, was a highlight. (Here's the life size Tardis in the Parade, photo by Tracy V. Wilson).
But then to see panels on all my favorite BBC shows, Being Human, Torchwood, Dr. Who and even the brief but amazing, Primeval. Unfortunately I didn't make all of these panels due to getting lost or attending other panels, but to know they available was a gift to save for next year.

I did get to the panel where all the Canadian stars of Being Human, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington and Sam Woodward, spoke.  Wow!  What a blast.  Before I went in, I had my doubts.  I don't have cable so hadn't seen the SYFY version and was a bit disheartened that my old friends from the BBC weren't doing it anymore. But these three actors totally swayed me. I still haven't seen their show, but onstage they were so likeable, so invested in the characters and script and such a great group who obviously already have amazing chemistry. They offered hints about future scripts and talked about the pros and cons of the show, for example how Megan, who plays the ghost was not only stuck wearing the same costume every show, but was also restricted to shoots in the apartment and not able to go on location like the Josh, the werewolf and Aiden the vampire.  Both Sams agreed her being able to act with them in the outdoor scenes. They sold me on the new version of one of my favorite shows of all time, and it was great to see them cut loose, trash the stage, knock each other all over it and then...clean the stage up.  
Also, I discovered how fascinating the academic comics track was fascinating.  Riveting erudite presentations and vibrant question and answer sections with audiences highly invested in this milieu Even for me an infrequent comics collector (I own a signed faves: The Crow, Sandman, The Girl Who Would Be Death, a number of items by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean) but I'm not a collector or even an avid reader.